Child Protection Initiative

2011

Protecting Children
from Violence
Globally

Su ccess st o r ies d em o n st r at in g h o w Save t h e Ch ild r en

t ackles ab u se, n eg lect , exp lo it at io n an d vio len ce ag ain st ch ild r en .

Child Protection Initiative

2011
Child Protection Initiative
2011

Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 2

Child protection systems .................................................................................................................................... 3

Protection systems that keep children safe in their communities ........................................................ 3
Enabling child victims of abuse to feel safe when testifying .................................................................... 4
Tackling the root causes of violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation ................................................ 5

Children and communities taking action ......................................................................................................... 6

Galvanizing support to stop violence against children ............................................................................. 6
Empowering children to take action against violence .............................................................................. 7

Children without appropriate care................................................................................................................... 8

It takes a village to raise a child .................................................................................................................... 8
Shifting from the institution to the family ................................................................................................... 9

Children on the move ....................................................................................................................................... 10

Protection systems for children who are migrating or trafficked ....................................................... 10
Providing interim care and support for trafficked children .................................................................. 11

Tackling sexual abuse ......................................................................................................................................... 12

Empowering children to speak out against abuse ................................................................................... 12
Training the military to understand and address sexual exploitation and abuse ............................. 13

Children associated with armed forces or groups ...................................................................................... 14

Reuniting children formerly associated with armed groups with their families ............................... 14

Family reunification............................................................................................................................................. 15
Reuniting separated families after an earthquake. .................................................................................. 15

Creating safe spaces and support in emergencies ....................................................................................... 16

Providing some safety and serenity amidst the destruction of a cyclone.......................................... 16
Helping children communicate instead of hit........................................................................................... 17
Monitoring and responding to violence .................................................................................................... 18

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Child Protection Initiative
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Introduction

Case studies and examples of Save the Children programmes showcase

child protection achievements in the field

These case studies demonstrate the impact Save the Children activities and programmes
have had in protecting children from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Case studies
specifically highlight the areas of focus of the Child Protection Initiative including child
protection in emergencies, children without appropriate care, children on the move.

The case studies have been collected from all the regions of the world in which Save the
Children is operating. Some describe projects, while others are stories of individual children
and their families who have been supported by Save the Children. Many also highlight other
areas of Save the Children’s work as child protection is often integrated into a range of
programme areas.

Case stories can be used and reproduced individually or in group, for fundraising and
communication purposes, both for internal and external audience.

These case studies were edited and compiled by the Child Protection Initiative in March
2011.

For more information contact Catherine Kates at catherinek@sca.savethechildren.se

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Child protection systems

Protection systems that keep children safe in their communities

Child Protection Networks in Rwanda have

protected more than 35,000 children from
violence by using multiple initiatives and an
integrated approach. These Networks,
supported by Save the Children, protect
children by encouraging collaboration between
children, adults, and local authorities. Violence
against children is now often prevented, saving
costs in responses.

Child-friendly spaces called Children’s Corners

Sensitization on children’s right to protection on were set-up by Save the Children. More than
June 16, 2009- the Day of the African Child. 40 Children’s Corner volunteers were trained
Photographer: Elisa Radisone in children’s rights and child protection.
Volunteers were taught to communicate with
children creatively through the use of games, theater, and music.

Save the Children also supported the development of Child Protection Committees which raise
awareness of children’s rights in their communities and identify the problems that children face. Save
the Children has trained more than 4,700 voluntary members of Child Protection Committees.
Volunteers support children to find possible solutions, to report cases of violence to authorities and
provide follow-up. The Committees mobilize the community to provide for the basic needs of
vulnerable children including food and shelter. Committees advocate for the incorporation of a child
rights perspective into development plans at sector and district level.

Child participation was key to programmes success. Peer elected committees of children called
Children’s Forums were set-up. Training was provided on child rights and protection, life-skills and
peer-education to 3,800 children. Children’s Forum members then trained other children and
initiated activities to improve the protection of children in their communities. Their work helps
school-drop outs return to school, and supports children to report violence. The Children’s Forums
collect the views of at-risk children and works with these children to develop solutions. These are
sent as recommendations to local authorities for follow-up.

Save the Children set up Nkundabana, adult volunteers who mentor children living without adult
support, mostly child-headed households. Their role is to help children in identifying possible
solutions to the problems they face and to provide them psychosocial support. Save the Children
has trained 195 Nkundabana to date in children’s rights and protection, active listening, effective
communication and life skills. Nkundabana have, in turn, supported 3,400 children living in child-
headed-household.

Through these initiatives, community members have influenced local development planning and
governance. Advocacy at the sector and district, policies and practices have been created and
changed to improve the protection of the rights of all children, especially vulnerable children.

From the Annual Report for West and Central Africa, Save the Children UK, 2009.

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Child Protection Systems

Enabling child victims of abuse to feel safe when testifying
Save the Children has been
working with the Ministry of
Justice and Legal Affairs in
Zimbabwe to strengthen the
judicial system so it is more
protective and supportive to
children.

Most young victims of sexual

were failing to give evidence
in the presence of the
perpetrator leading to high
rates of acquittals for child
abusers. Because of this, the
Ministry of Justice and Legal
Affairs, in partnership with
At the Victim Friendly Court, children are provided with Save the Children,
anatomically correct dolls to help them describe the sexual established a Victim Friendly
abuse they endured. Court (VFC) system. In 2009
alone, 17 Victim Friendly
Courts were functioning and presided over more than 1,500 child abuse cases.

The Victim Friendly Court is a specialized court designed to offer judiciary support to women,
children, people with disabilities and the elderly who have been victims of sexual abuse. Cases heard
by this court take place in two rooms. One room houses the victim, while the main court houses
the prosecutor, the accused and members of the public. Communication between the main court
and the victim is done through closed-circuit television.

Children are provided with anatomically correct dolls to help them demonstrate what happened to
them. Consequently, children give evidence without being further traumatized by trial procedures or
having to endure face-to-face contact with the perpetrator of abuse.

Following the introduction of these specialized courts, child abuse cases are now being professionally
handled and the backlog of child abuse cases has been reduced. This has also drastically increased
the conviction rates in cases involving children.

Save the Children supported the establishment of the courts throughout Zimbabwe and continues
to provide technical assistance. Save the Children is also carrying out community awareness
campaigns on child rights and child abuse with a focus on the role of the community in preventing
and managing child abuse.

The Harare Regional Magistrate, Peter Kumbawa, said the Victim Friendly Court has helped the
judiciary system to take children's issues more seriously. Kumbawa and other magistrates in
Zimbabwe are now treating child sexual abuse as a very serious offense.

From “Impact”, Save the Children, March 2010 edition, pp. 25-26.

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Child Protection Systems

Tackling the root causes of violence, neglect, abuse and
exploitation
Poverty can put children more at risk of
child rights violations and threaten
children’s health, their chances to go to
school and to live in a decent home.
Poverty can force children to leave their
families as families cannot afford to feed,
educate and clothe them or stress leads
parents to abuse or neglect their children.
Poor children are more vulnerable to
sexual exploitation and trafficking, lured by
the promise of an easier life.

Khayelitsha, on the outskirts of Cape Town,

South Africa is home to an estimated two
million people, the majority of whom live in
Thanks to the extenstion of the child support grant extreme poverty. As a result, many
for 15-18 years, Yonela can continue to attend children do not go to school, and often
school.
experience violence and are exposed to
drugs.

Yonela Zenzile lives with her unemployed parents in Khayelitsha. Although she wanted to be a
lawyer, the school fees were too high for her family. The only option seemed to be for her to drop
out of school, like her older brother.

Yonela’s mother contacted 'Mama' Darlina Vuyelwa Tyawana, the Provincial Executive Member of
the New Women's Movement and a member of the Alliance for Children's Entitlement to Social
Security (ACESS). ACESS, a Save the Children partner, is a national alliance of more than 1500
children’s organisations with a commitment to ensuring the social security and rights of all children
in South Africa. ACESS assisted Yonela’s mother to register for a child support grant.

The child support grant in South Africa has been praised as one of the country's major contributions
to reducing child poverty. The monthly grant gives income support for children up to the age of 15
whose parents or caregivers earn below minimum wage. When children turned 15, however, they
lost this financial support which left them extremely vulnerable.

Save the Children’s partners campaigned for more than ten years to extend the Children Support
Grant to vulnerable children under 18 years. In 2010, the South African government announced the
Grant would be available to eligible children below 18 years.

Yonela’s mother said, “My daughter is my last hope. I hope with this grant she will be able to finish
her school and go to university. When I see her, I see a lot of potential. She is no different from
other children who are making it in life.”

Social security helps alleviate poverty. Save the Children works with civil society partners, to
advocate for the implementation of national social security schemes and to raise awareness among
adults and children on how to access these grants.

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Children and communities taking action

Galvanizing support to stop violence against children
In a country like Côte
d’Ivoire, it is essential to talk
about the negative impacts
of violence. The country was
divided by a civil war in 2002
and is still reeling from its
impact and facing a new
conflict. Save the Children,
takes a multi-pronged
approach to tackle violence
at the community level.

Save the Children supports

the establishment and
activities of child-led
associations based within
Children are performing about the negative impact of violence in Côte the communities called
d’Ivoire. Photographer: Annie Bodmer-Roy Children’s Groups. The
Children’s Groups raise
awareness of child
protection within communities through music, community discussions, theatre and dance.

Save the Children also supports Child Protection Committees, which are groups of adults within the
community who are trained to monitor and respond to child protection violations.

In 2010, the Children’s Groups and Save the Children lobbied the Ministry of Family, Women and
Social Affairs (the Ministry responsible for child protection issues) so that these Groups would be
formally recognized as child protection structures at community level. That same year, the Ministry
recognized the Children’s Groups as well as the Child Protection Committees as official entities.
This has given the Groups more legitimacy within the communities.

Save the Children has also been working on establishing referral mechanisms within the communities
by training local child protection actors within the different areas where Save the Children works.
Training included sessions on children’s rights, child participation, and child protection. Local social
workers and members of Child Protection and Children’s Groups have benefited from this training
and are now actively supporting referral mechanisms.

By ensuring the Children’s Groups, Child Protection Committees, social workers and employees of
the Social Centres all know about each others work, child protection issues are managed more
efficiently and effectively at the community level.

From the Annual Report for the West Africa Region, Save the Children Sweden, 2009.

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Children and communities taking action

Empowering children to take action against violence
“The only difference between us
(children’s club members) and other
children is that we know what we
are asking is not a favour but our
own rights.” - Sultan, leader of a
child club in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is home to almost

seven million children invoved in
hazardous child labour, many of
whom work in terrible
conditions. Save the Children is
working with a national NGO,
UDDIPAN, in Bangladesh to
establish and support children’s
clubs to empower children to
fight child rights violations they
Uddipan Child Club Members’, Bangladesh. experience, especially within
workplaces. The Children’s Clubs
give children information, space and time to discuss issues and come up with their own solutions.

Children’s Clubs are not given a specific agenda but provided with knowledge about key issues in
child friendly language. Children are informed about their rights and entitlements. They are
encouraged to discuss and develop non-violent strategies to address their problems.

After more than four years of work, the Children’s Clubs are known for their interventions with
local government. They have advocated for the promotion of regulatory bodies to ensure children’s
rights are protected in the workplace. Children are actively insisting that they have rights in the
workplace and need to be given time to rest, go to school and play.

The Children’s Clubs have now expanded their mandate and are now taking on more issues that are
not necessarily related to child labour. For example, a member of the Children’s Club was being
forced by her parents to marry at age 14. The girl was not ready for marriage and was very upset by
the situation. She shared her concerns with her friends from the club before her parents prohibited
her from going to school or the Children’s Club.

The club members decided to take action. They approached the village committee, the market
regulatory authority and teachers and pleaded for them to take some action. However, they were
told again and again that this was a family affair. The club members did not give up. They met the
parents of their friend and presented them with material and information on the harm of early
marriage. The parents listened, but did not change their minds.

The children still did not give up and similarly approached the groom’s family. They also went to the
groom’s village and asked the village head and teachers to postpone the wedding. One of the local
religious leaders listened to the children and convinced the groom’s family to delay the marriage by
four years.

From Save the Children’s annual report 2009, Bangladesh.

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Children without appropriate care

It takes a village to raise a child
“My family came to live in the
city of Cali because my father
had a truck for transporting
goods. But, when we arrived,
the truck broke down and we
were left with nothing. My
parents separated after my
father hit my mother with a
piece of wood when she didn’t
obey him. My mother left for
the countryside and she
occasionally comes to town to
visit us,” says Yesica.

The community and school are helping Yesica In these neighbourhoods in

and her siblings cope in difficult circumstances. Colombia, many children like
Yesica are severely
mistreated by adults. Community members rarely report physical or sexual abuse. Additionally,
children often do not have appropriate care. Children under five years of age often spend the
majority of their time alone or under the care of their older siblings as their parents are usually
working or have gone traveling to look for work.

Yesica is 14 years old and is currently studying in eighth grade. Her mother is not often around and
her father works far away. As a result, Yesica is often left alone to care for her two younger sisters.
As well as looking after her siblings, Yesica has to cook, clean, do the laundry and carry out other
household chores.

Because of her responsibilities at home, Yesica usually arrives late to class. It is the policy at the
school to not allow children who are late to enter the classroom Because of this Yesica is currently
failing the year.

Prior to Save the Children’s intervention, children like Yesica would drop out of school and would
struggle for their own survival. Save the Children is working in the community to promote positive
parenting practices and support the development of positive relationships between school staff and
families so schools become a protective environment for children.

Save the Children is working to strengthen child protection systems at both national and community
levels by training public servants in child protection. Save the Children, in partnership with children,
lobbies state and local authorities for increased public spending on child protection.

Consequently, the directors and teachers at the school are trying to increase Yesica’s parents
understanding of the importance of her education and the need to protect her rights.

Documented by Colin Crowley for Save the Children UK, 11 Oct 2010.

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Children without appropriate care

Shifting from the institution to the family

After living in an institution because her

mother could not afford to feed her,
Katrina returns home. Photographer: Rio
Helmi/Onasia

Indonesia has 8,000 childcare institutions housing around 500,000 children. Nearly all (99%) are
privately run by faith-based organisations and are unregulated. Even though a law was passed in 2003
emphasizing family care, the child protection system in Indonesia is almost entirely reliant on
residential care.

A survey conducted in 2007 by Save the Children, UNICEF and the government of Indonesia,
revealed that almost 90% of the children living in institutions had one living parent, and that 56% had
both. Most children were placed in residential care so that they could get an education, and stayed
until they completed secondary school. These findings led to a major shift in government thinking.

Save the Children began working with the government of Indonesia to come up with solutions. As a
result of advocacy efforts, the Ministry of Social Affairs approved a regulatory framework for
childcare institutions, including National Standards of Care and establishment of a regulatory
authority and licensing system.

The Children’s Directorate strategy 2010–14 incorporates the shift to family-based care and
services, not only for children without parents, but in all child protection cases. There has been a
shift in financial support from institutions to family care, and family care is being introduced as a
priority in the Country Strategic Plan.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has set up a national database on children in alternative care and
directed all district level social authorities to monitor childcare institutions. Fostering and adoption
are being promoted.

Save the Children is also supporting the National Graduate School of Social Work to set up a pilot
centre showing how to prevent the institutionalisation and support family reintegration. Social work
training is also now prioritising family support.

From “Keeping Children out of Harmful Institutions: Why we should invest in family-based care”, Corinna
Csaky, Save the Children, 2009, p.19.

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Children on the move

Protection systems for children who are migrating or trafficked
Thousands of children on the move
across Cambodia, China, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, Myanmar
(Burma), Thailand and Vietnam (the
Greater Mekong Region) experience,
Children are attending a workshop to teach them or are at risk of experiencing
how to identify and intervene to stop trafficking.
exploitation, abuse and violence.
Children who are trafficked are often
experience labour and sexual
exploitation, or illegal adoption. Some
migrant children leave home voluntarily,
but fall prey to traffickers once reaching
their final destination.

Save the Children’s Cross Border

Project develops child protection
systems for the effective prevention,
rescue, recovery and reintegration of children on the move who are victims of exploitation. The
project follows children’s movement routes by setting up interventions at places of origin, transit
and destination. It advocates for policy change and coordination mechanisms across the Mekong.

Over 12,600 children are involved in the project as watchdogs in the community. The project
facilitates dialogue between children and government officials responsible for developing anti-
trafficking policies. Those involved in the programme have educated over 340,000 people, including
52,000 school children on child protection through plays, discussions and games.

Community-based formal and informal networks of local government agencies, community based
organisations, civil society groups, and children’s groups are working against human trafficking. These
networks feed information into a Cross-Border Case Management System. This system, which is
supported by Save the Children, enables organisations and government authorities to access the
same information about each child.

The project has developed government authorities’ understanding of human trafficking. This is done
through practical trainings, study visits and technical assistance. Save the Children also attends
government consultations and sits on technical working groups which establish policy. In several
countries there are cross-border linkages between governments, women’s organisations, police,
provincial authorities, traditional leaders and children’s groups.

Save the Children delivers basic services to trafficked children and women, as well those at risk of
being trafficked. They receive support for education and health as well as vocational training, legal
education, livelihoods and psychosocial support. The project works to reunifies families and ensure
everyone has legal, national registration cards.

The combination of initiatives resulted in functioning child protection systems that prevent trafficking
and support victims. Save the Children is working to embed these systems into government
structures and policies and into the minds of the people in the region.

From “Away from Home: Protecting and Supporting Children on the Move”, Daniela Reale, Save the Children
UK, 2009, p.18

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Children on the move

Providing interim care and support for trafficked children
Faith grew up in Nigeria. She was abandoned by her parents when she was only one year old. She
was raised by an abusive woman who did not properly feed her, or allow her to go to school. One
day, Faith met a man who promised to take her abroad to study. Instead, the man trafficked her to
Eastern Europe. When Faith tried to escape, the man caught her and tortured her.

One day, a neighbour noticed that there was something wrong and called the police who reacted
quickly. Faith was helped by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
brought to Romania, through a relocation programme which ensured her safety. Faith was 16 at this
time.

UNHCR, in cooperation with the Romanian Government, established the Evacuation Transit Centre
(ETC) in order to bridge the gap between life-saving evacuations and final resettlement to third
countries. This centre provides temporary shelter and social support for each refugee for a period
of no more than six months. Such evacuations occur when refugees face life threatening situations.
Faith fell into this category.

Faith soon started to participate in Save the Children’s programme at the Centre. She took part in
educational and social activities. What she really wanted, however, was to go to school. She was not
allowed to attend public school because her stay in Romania was short-term.

Save the Children lobbied the government so that Faith and the other children attending the
programme could go to a public school during their stay in Romania. Faith and her friends were able
to attend English courses within the Romanian state education system. They also received support
from Save the Children to make their short stay informative, safe and useful.

*Faith is not her real name.

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Tackling sexual abuse

Empowering children to speak out against abuse
Kenya Alliance for Advancement of Children
(KAACR), with the support of Save the
Children, is working to strengthen child
protection systems. In one particular district
in Kenya, KAACR has established Child
Rights Clubs in 14 different schools. In the
clubs, children learn about their rights and
are empowered to fight for them.

In one instance, three children ages 7 to 14

found that their school mate had been
sexually abused. They had been taught in the
Child Rights Club members in Msambweni discussing the reasons Child Rights Club about the procedures to
for girls dropping out of school. Photo: Anne Haaranen get medical and legal help for abuse cases.

When there is a case of defilement, rape, assault or accident, a health officer must accompany the
child to the police station to fill in a form. The form is needed in order to prosecute the
perpetrator. The medical report then needs to be verified by a doctor.

The children, therefore, went to the district hospital to get the form but the children were sent
away because they did not have the 500 Kenyan Shillings (about 8USD) to pay for the form. The
children, however, continued to demand treatment for their school mate, knowing the service
should be free of charge. Finally, the hospital agreed to treat the child. The case was reported and
brought to court. One of the children said: "I remember during the training with KAACR, they told
us that if you are refused by one officer, then go to the next or their boss."

The children informed the NGOs of how important it was to ensure forms were free of cost
throughout the district. Through intensive lobbying with health workers in the district, the hospital
administration made the forms free of charge. The hospital also recruited an officer to handle
children's cases and is working closely with KAACR to raise awareness for the protection of
children in the community. As a result, more child abuse cases are being forwarded to the hospital
and children in the community know what to do and where to go if they are abused.

From “Impact”, Save the Children, March 2010 edition, pp. 13-14.

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Tackling sexual abuse

Training the military to understand and address sexual
exploitation and abuse
Save the Children has been carrying out training on child protection and child rights for armed
forces and groups throughout the world. The training is intended to initiate dialogue and develop an
understanding about core child protection issues in conflict areas. It covers topics such as sexual
abuse and exploitation of children, and how identify and rehabilitate child soldiers. It also covers
basic child development and explains that a child is anyone under 18 years old.

The training has been mainstreamed into the military curriculum in many countries. Through the
training, military around the world are signing Codes of Conduct on child protection. Many military
forces have created Child Protection Units (CPUs) or ‘Cellules’. These are offices staffed by military
personnel who are charged to handle all issues relating to child rights and child protection. These
units are usually responsible for coordinating training and ensuring child rights violations by the
military personnel are addressed and duly prosecuted.

There is evidence that the military training programme has helped to instill an understanding that the
sexual abuse and exploitation of children is damaging and that the military can be held accountable
for it.

In The Gambia, for example, the military conducted training and consequently set up Child
Protection Units (CPU) at the Defense Headquarters. Additionally, all their military units now have
Child Protection Officers in place who report to the central Child Protection Unit. These officers
monitor and report child abuse or exploitation by soldiers within their units.

The officer commanding the CPU in The Gambia described how “We caught a person because he
had carnal knowledge of a child who is under the age of 18. It was not taken lightly. We made sure
that an example was set. That soldier was sentenced to 3 years in prison and disgracefully dismissed
from the armed forces.”

At least 100,000 military have been trained on child protection and child rights in Africa alone.
Another 12,000 are trained each year by Save the Children and its partners. Given that in at least
nine African countries, components on child rights and child protection are a regular module in the
standard curriculum for all military personnel, the number of people who have received training is
actually significantly higher. There are also established Child Protection Units it at least 15 African
countries.

From “Behind the Uniform: Training the Military in Child Protection and Child Rights in Africa”, Frances
Sheahan and Sophie Joy Mosko, Save the Children Sweden, 2009.

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Children associated with armed forces or groups

Reuniting children formerly associated with armed groups with
their families
When Daniel was 14 years
Daniel, centre, is twenty years old, Southern Sudan, Sudan. He used to be
a child soldier but has now gone back to school. He is a pupil in Deng
old, he was going to school
Nhial primary school in Rumbek, South Sudan.
and living with his family. His
father, however, was not
providing for the family and
his mother was struggling
keep the family together,
healthy and educated.

Sudan’s bitter civil war has

had many casualties including
children who have grown-up
serving in the army. Boys as
young as ten years of age are
known to be part of the
armed forces. Many of them,
who lost their parents in the
fighting, joined the army because they had nowhere else to go. Daniel Lat was recruited into the
Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in 2007 with the promise of food.

Since 1998, Save the Children has been working with SPLA to demobilise children from the army.
After a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed between the Government of Sudan and
the SPLA in 2005, a Commission was appointed to demobilize children. This includes identification,
registration, family tracing, reunification, and follow-up.

The Southern Sudan DDR (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration) Commission is

responsible for demobilising children from the army while Save the Children carries out the family
tracing, reunification and follow up. Save the Children developed a module on Family Tracing and
Reunification which is now used by many agencies to reunite former child soldiers with their families.

In 2009, the Commission contacted Save the Children with information about Daniel and 16 other
former child soldiers who were demobilised from the barracks and waiting to be reunited with their
families. Together with the Ministry of Social Development, Save the Children successfully traced the
boys’ families, using information about their local village chiefs and villages.

The family tracing program is housed within Community Based Child Protection Networks. These
are groups of volunteer adults who help protect children’s rights- including tracing families of
separated children. Save the Children also provides counseling and support for social reintegration
of the demobilised child soldiers through its Youth Education Centres.

Today Daniel goes to school, and when Save the Children staff visited him last, he seemed to be
coping well with his family, teachers and school mates. Daniel is one of over 1,500 children
associated with armed groups who have been rescued from the conflict in Sudan.

From the Annual Report for South Sudan, Save the Children UK, 2009.

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Family reunification
Reuniting separated families after an earthquake.
Marie-Ange came from a poor family from a rural
mountainous village called Cabaret, Haiti. Her mother,
Clotide, did not have the means to support her family.
Her husband had previously left and was not providing
for his family.

A year before the January 12 earthquake, Marie-Ange’s

mother sent her to live with an aunt who agreed to look
after her. The aunt took Marie-Ange to Port-au-Prince,
an unfamiliar city 50 kilometers from home. She was
forced to work as a domestic servant in her aunt’s home.

When the earthquake struck, the aunt’s family fled for

downtown Port-au-Prince, where thousands of people
had sought haven from their destroyed homes and
ongoing aftershocks. Just days after the quake, in the
chaos and confusion of the overcrowded camp at
Marie Ange, nine, was reunited with her Champs de Mars, a rumor a tsunami was approaching
mother, Clotide, Cabaret, Haiti. caused a stampede. Marie-Ange was left behind.

A man names Mikenson spotted Marie-Ange standing alone in the middle of a busy street in shock.
He asked her where her family was. She told him her aunt left and she had nowhere to go. Mikenson
took Marie-Ange home to his wife. Despite their limited means, Mikenson’s family provided shelter,
food and clothing to Marie-Ange for two months.

Save the Children works with the Haitian Ministry of Social Welfare, the Institute de Bien-Etre Social
et de Recherches (IBESR), responsible for reunification of separated families. Mikenson’s sister-in-
law asked Save the Children to try to trace Marie-Ange’s family so she could be reunited with her
mother and sisters. Save the Children collected information about Marie-Ange and registered her in
the Family Tracing and Reunification Program, which identifies unaccompanied children and reunites
them with their families.

“After the earthquake, many children have been spontaneously taken in by members of their
community and are often fine there,” said Georges J. Revolvus, Save the Children’s case coordinator.
“However, it is necessary to provide help to those who have nowhere to go. We follow up and
check in on the children who are receiving informal foster care within the community and continue
to provide protection and help to those who have been separated.”

In Cabaret, Marie-Ange’s desperate mother tried to locate her daughter. The aunt told Clotide her
daughter had died in the earthquake. Clotide visited a voodoo priest, who also told her Marie-Ange
was killed. Clotide and the village began mourning Marie-Ange’s death.

Two case workers interviewed Marie-Ange and then visited Cabaret, where they located Marie-
Ange’s mother. After extensive investigation and verification, Clotide was told that Marie-Ange was
alive. Save the Children took Marie-Ange to see her mother. Clotide said, “I can’t thank you enough.
You have brought my daughter to me. I thought she was dead. It is amazing to see her again. We are
so happy that Marie-Ange has returned home. We are a family again.”

Case study documented on April 13, 2010 by Save the Children.

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Child Protection Initiative
2011

Creating safe spaces and support in emergencies

Providing some safety and serenity amidst the destruction of a
cyclone

Children at a Safe Space that was created after

Cyclone Aila struck
cyclone Aila in Bangladesh
the southern coast
of Bangladesh on
May 25, 2009 and
left over 190 people
dead, 7,103 people
injured and
damaged over
600,000 homes,
destroying the
livelihoods of
communities across
the south-western
coastal belt. Save
the Children was
one of the first
organisations to
respond.

Save the Children’s

response programme focused on providing shelter, water and sanitation, cash for work and
livelihood support to households in cyclone Aila affected areas. Save the Children also supported
children whose education has been severely disrupted by Aila to go back to school and protected
children from abuse, exploitation, psychosocial distress, and other forms of harm.

After a cyclone parents have a lot to do. They need to look for work, rebuild their houses, and
collect food and water. Save the Children established 145 child-friendly spaces which supported over
7,900 children ages 4-14. Each child-friendly space provided hot, nutritious meals, play and learning
opportunities, drinking water and sanitation facilities, access to medical care and psychosocial
support. The spaces function as an effective protection mechanism, helping to safeguard the well-
being of children from the most affected families and restore a sense of normalcy to children’s lives.

Eight centers for adolescent girls were also established which benefited over 200 girls. The girls
participated in cash-for-training and learnt how to conduct birth registration for AILA-affected
newborns in their communities.

To tackle longer-term problems, Save the Children implemented a cash for work programme to
provide cyclone-affected families immediate access to income while simultaneously repairing roads
damaged by the storm and raising land to prevent additional flooding.

By providing immediate support, children are protected from dangers that occur just after a natural
disaster. By providing livelihoods support, Save the Children tries to ensure that families continue to
be able to support their children in the future.

From the Annual Report Bangladesh, Save the Children, 2009.

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Child Protection Initiative
2011

Creating safe spaces and support in emergencies

Helping children communicate instead of hit
Wael, a 6-year-old boy from Beit Lahia, Gaza, lives with his parents and seven siblings. Wael’s
parents are not educated and live in modest housing affected by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
Wael has grown up in an environment influenced by violence. From a young age he witnessed
arguments within his family and his neighbourhood, which often became violent. When Wael or his
siblings didn’t listen, his mother would slap them.

Eventually Wael started becoming aggressive himself, particularly with his younger brother who was
just a toddler. At this point, his mother decided something needed to change. She had heard about
her local Family Centre from other members of their community.

The Family Centers Project was established by Save the Children Sweden in partnership with Unicef.
The Centers work with children at risk or survivors of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
living in the Gaza Strip. The Project builds the capacity of 20 local grassroots groups so they can act
as Family Centers (FCs). So far, the FCs have reached 1147 children through group and individual
counseling and 150 caregivers through psychosocial awareness.

The Centre provides access to quality services in child protection, education and health. They serve
as a meeting point for children and caregivers and involve them in designing activities. The Centre
offers mothers and fathers a place to talk about their experiences, and see their children develop
with trained guidance. The Centre provides information on children’s rights and other relevant
topics and support children’s development and learning. Staff working at the centers also report and
monitor child rights violations and refer them to national services.

Wael and his family attended social support and counseling sessions at the centre. Wael and his
mother participated in individual counseling sessions and all family members had group counseling
sessions. The social workers also visited the family at their home. The support sessions gave Wael
and his family space to freely express their feelings.

Over a month, the social worker noticed significant differences in the behaviour of Wael’s family
members. Wael’s parents became more communicative with all their children. Wael started to play
with his younger brother, instead of hurting him.

When asked about the experience Wael’s mother said “I was devastated when Wael started to act
violent and aggressive with his own little brother. I had no idea what to do about it. He wasn’t
listening to me or his father. I was really afraid that one day he would really hurt his brother. I know
our children grow up in a society which is strongly affected by violence and sometimes we forget the
affect that this has on them. I am really glad that I have learned positive ways to discipline my
children instead of hitting them. I am so relieved that we were able to go to our local family centre
and get counseling sessions. It’s so important to give children space in which they can express their
feelings in a healthy way. I am really glad my children seem to be on the right track now.”

From Save the Children Sweden, Middle East and North Africa region, March 2010.

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Child Protection Initiative
2011

Creating safe spaces and support in emergencies

Monitoring and responding to violence
On May 20, 2007, the Nahr el Bared Camp in
Lebanon was destroyed and its adjacent areas
heavily damaged after a 105 day war between
the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Islamist
militant group Fateh al Islam.

Consequently, 30,000 Palestinian and

Lebanese civilians sought temporary shelter in
the neighboring Beddawi camp. The majority
of children in the camp grow up in an
environment of violence where their families
Ch ild r en p lan n in g w h at m essag es t o co n vey t o
and communities cannot respond to their
t h e m ed ia ab o u t ch ild p r o t ect io n .
basic emotional, psychological and cognitive
needs. Because of increased poverty and psychosocial distress, non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) felt it was critical to monitor, prevent and respond to violence against children.

A group of international and national NGOs working in the camps decided to merge efforts to
protect children exposed to armed conflict. This led to the establishment of the Child Protection
Network (CPN), supported by Save the Children. Since May 2007, the CPN seeks to ensure quality
education and a child-friendly environment free from violence in the camps.

Save the Children has built the technical capacity of CPN members to respond to children’s needs
and has supported the establishment of a referral system for documentation and monitoring of child
rights violations. CPN members are advocating for child protection at the community level with local
authorities.

Save the Children is also empowering children to actively participate in campaigns to protect their
rights. Children are trained in animation, media and child rights and protection. They produce radio
spots and animated films to educate the community on how to protect children.

CPN developed a comprehensive monitoring mechanism on child rights which is followed-up with
concrete action. CPN was trained on documentation and monitoring and on ensuring confidentiality
and credibility. Together with Save the Children, the CPN then developed monitoring forms to
record detected cases of abuse in homes, schools and on the street. The forms allow proper follow
up by social workers.

The forms also supply information for a report which documents violence such as abuse of power,
drug abuse and discrimination of children with disabilities and gives information into how such
violations were addressed. The cases are documented in the report without names or identifying
elements to protect the privacy of children.

Many areas of abuse remain taboo and go unreported. The report challenges taboos and educates
the community about the need to talk about and address violence. The report is shared with
decision-makers, schools and the community so they are aware of the kinds of abuse taking place in
their community and what they can do to prevent it. This helps to prevent future violence and
identify abuse that was once hidden.

From: “Protecting the Rights of Palestinian Children affected by Armed Conflicts through Community-based
Mechanisms in Nahr El Bared and Beddawi Camps, 2009-2011”, Save the Children Sweden, 2010.

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Child Protection Initiative
2011

Child Protection
Taking action against all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence
Save the Children launched the Global Child Protection Initiative to strengthen children’s right to be
protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence in May 2009.
By 2015, Save the Children will have improved the lives of 21 million children through preventative and
remedial child protection measures.
Initially, the Child Protection Initiative focuses on:
• Children without appropriate care: including neglected and/or abused children in their families,
children in institutions or other forms of alternative care, and children on the move, including child
refugees, child migrants and trafficked children
• Child protection in emergencies: including sexual violence, children associated with armed forces and
groups, and family separation.
• Child labour: strategy to be developed in 2011.

Why work in our Priority Area’s?

Children without appropriate care and Child protection in Emergencies
children on the move
Children affected by armed conflict or natural
Children often enter residential care institutions disasters are vulnerable to sexual abuse and
because families are too poor and lack adequate exploitation, including rape, forced prostitution,
support. Children also enter institutions because physical harm, psychological distress, and
of HIV and AIDS and emergency situations. economic exploitation. Children recruited into
Many institutions are unregulated and unsafe, and armed groups are killed, maimed, abused and
children are vulnerable to violence. Children may exploited. Girls are forcibly taken as ‘wives’ and
also leave home for work, education, to escape repeatedly raped. During and after an emergency,
conflict, disasters or family violence, or because children may be separated from their parents and
they are trafficked. Sometimes they move with are at risk of being recruited into armed forces,
their parents and relatives, but many are alone. abducted, trafficked or sexually abused.
Save the Children’s goal: By 2015, 16.5 million Save the Children’s goal: By 2015, 4.5 million
children without appropriate care, including children on children affected by armed conflict and disaster are
the move, are protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence by:
and violence through:
- Support to families to care for their children - Preventing children from being recruited or
and prevent family separation abducted into armed groups and forces
- The development of family-based care - Putting systems in place to ensure children
alternatives in children’s communities are not separated from their families
- The prevention of the worst forms of - Reuniting children with their families
movement, and improved access to services, - Strengthening systems to preventing sexual
support and opportunities violence in emergencies

Our Approach
1.) A Child rights approach in which every child has a non-negotiable right to protection and care.
2.) Supporting Children’s right to Participation and efforts to fight against discrimination, abuse,
neglect, exploitation and violence.
3.) Advocating for National Child Protection Systems that are coordinated and sustainable

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Save the Children’s Vision and Mission

WE ARE the world’s leading independent organisation for children

OUR VISION is a world in which every child attains the right to

survival, protection, development and participation.

OUR MISSION is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world

treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change
in their lives.